[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11458-11459]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         TROPICAL STORM ALLISON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to share some more stories on 
the devastation left in my hometown of Houston by Tropical Storm 
Allison. From Tuesday, June 5, when landfall was made through Sunday, 
June 10, when the rains began to taper off and the water began to 
recede, it is now estimated that over $4 billion of damage was done by 
this seemingly minor tropical storm. It also cost 23 lives in the 
Houston area. Of course this storm not only damaged Houston, but also 
Louisiana, Mississippi; and it dumped a great deal of water in 
Pennsylvania this past weekend.
  For my colleagues not from coastal areas, this was just a tropical 
storm. Damage was exclusively from flooding. There was no damage from 
high winds, tornadoes or other weather events had it been a full-blown 
hurricane.
  While many areas of Houston had significant flooding, the 29th 
district was particularly hard hit. Many of the city's bayous run 
through my district. Bayous such as Hunting and Greens, overflowed 
their banks, causing widespread flooding in businesses and residential 
areas.
  Over 10,000 residents were forced from their homes by Greens Bayou 
alone, as flooding reached the 1,000-year flood level. Even those who 
were not flooded out of their residences suffered thousands of dollars 
worth of damage to their homes and personal belongings.
  Damage estimates for homes have not yet been completed, but the total 
is significant. 303 homes totally destroyed; 12,451 with major damage 
and are uninhabitable; and 20,491 homes have minor damage, with 
families able to at least partially begin the process of moving back 
in.
  I would like to thank the Federal Energy Management Agency, FEMA, for 
their prompt response in the Houston area. Almost as soon as the rains 
stopped, FEMA personnel were establishing a command center in the 
Greens Point area and setting up disaster relief centers where victims 
could register for home inspections, SBA loans, or temporary housing 
assistance and other Federal benefits, along with State agencies in 
these centers.
  As of 6 p.m. last night, 47,000 people had registered with FEMA on 
their toll-free hot line; over 41,000 have registered for the disaster 
housing program; and $17 million in funding has been approved. For 
individual and family grant programs, almost 17,500 registrations have 
been received; and nearly $13 million in funding has been approved.
  I would like to recognize the thousands of volunteers from the 
American Red Cross and the Salvation Army in their role in the recovery 
process. These organizations quickly opened shelters for those driven 
from their homes. They have provided more than 800,000 meals to victims 
of this disaster and currently are offering additional aid so that 
individuals can begin to replace clothing and other belongings that 
were ruined or swept away during the floods. Also our Army, Air Force 
and National Guard, and AmeriCorps, and numerous other government 
agencies have contributed to helping Houstonians and people who live in 
Harris County clean up and begin the long process of rebuilding their 
lives.
  The task ahead of us, though, is going to be long and arduous. For 
example, the damage to our hospitals will place a heavy burden on our 
health care infrastructure for the near future. Let me share some of 
the numbers: in my district, East Houston Medical Center, complete 
evacuation for 2 or 3 months before reopening; maybe 1 year for 
complete restoration.
  Hermann Memorial Hospital, one of our two Tier I trauma centers in 
Houston, evacuated and closed for an estimated 6 to 8 weeks.
  Methodist Hospital closed due to extensive damage, potential partial 
reopening this week, but 6 months to restore completely.
  St. Luke's Hospital, their emergency room suffered extensive damage. 
Six months to 1 year for complete restoration.
  St. Joseph's Hospital, emergency room closed for extensive damage, 3 
to 6 months before reopening, and 1 year before complete restoration.
  Northwest Columbia Hospital, closed and unable to operate possibly 
for 1 year due to extensive damage.
  Ben Taub, one of our public hospitals, full to capacity; emergency 
room on diversion status except for extreme cases.
  LBJ Hospital, damaged but still operating, another one of our public 
hospitals, full to capacity with emergency room operators up 260 
percent compared to prestorm level.
  Park Plaza, emergency room operations up 440 percent compared to 
prestorm levels.
  Even though classes were out and summer school had not yet begun, our 
public schools were not spared. 155 of the 300 schools in Houston ISD 
suffered flood damage, with 13 of those sustaining substantial damage.
  Other districts were not spared, either. North Forest ISD's schools 
and administration building suffered severe

[[Page 11459]]

damage, especially for office equipment and computers. They were also 
forced to postpone their summer school program.
  Additionally, the Sheldon Independent School District suffered severe 
flooding in all but two of their schools, and they have been forced to 
cancel part of their summer school program.
  There is a great deal of work to do, Mr. Speaker, but we will 
continue to rebuild our homes and schools and our business. I thank the 
agencies that helped us.

                          ____________________